Top 10 Things to do in Gozo

As always, this list is based mainly on general consensus in books, magazines, websites and blogs - weighted a little by our own experiences.


10 Heart of Gozo Museum 'Il-Hagar':  Beautifully laid out multi-media museum featuring many exhibits from St George's Church

9 Calypso Cave:  Overlooking Ramla Bay, and said to be the cave where Calypso kept Odysseus a prisoner in Homer's 'The Odyssey'.  (As all involved were just characters in a book, this is unlikely to be factually correct)

Top 10 Best Beaches in Malta

Malta famously has more hours of sunshine per year than any other country in Europe.

So what better way to spend your time on the island,than laid out on a stretch of beach, with a cold drink to hand and the Mediterranean just a few steps away.

There are quite a few options, so I have taken an informal poll of websites, blogs and books, flavoured with my own preferences, and produced the following list of the Best Beaches in Malta:

Top Ten Activities for Kids in Malta

You are visiting Malta with young children, so how best to keep them entertained?  

Ancient ruins and museums may prove a little unexciting for your average 5-year-old, so here are a few alternative suggestions:

10.Adventure Playgound (Ta Qali)

This outdoor adventure playground is found in the National Park in Ta Qali, so there are also a couple of museums and craft stores to visit in the vicinity.

9.Ice Skating/Bowling

Not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Malta, but there is an ice rink every winter in Bay Street, St Julian's.  Also in the Paceville area you will find the Eden Superbowl bowling center all year round, right opposite the cinema.

Top 10 Things to Do in Valletta

As with the Malta Top Ten list, this is a compilation of the views held by other people, books, bloggers, sites and so on, as well as my own. 

There are a lot of things to do in this tiny city, so I have narrowed it down to a Top 10 for you to try:

10.  Fortification Interpretation Centre
A new attraction and not on a lot of lists, but I think worthy of a place on this one.  This museum gives you a window into the history of the city, via the fortifications which have defended it (or tried to) over the centuries.

9.  Museum of Archaeology or Malta Experience
Two choices for a rainy day (or an escape from the heat) The first is a small museum but worth popping in to take a look at the prehistoric 'Sleeping Lady' statuette.  The second is a 45 minute film about Malta's history, which by all accounts is pretty good.

Festa in Malta

If you are lucky, your trip to Malta will coincide with a local festival or 'festa'.  And to be honest, you don't even need to be all that lucky, as there were 122 of them a year at last count.

Hagar Qim & Mnajdra Temples

Malta is dotted with prehistoric temple sites, and there are two beside each other on the west coast of the island, very near the Blue Grotto.  For a mere nine euros you get to visit both of them plus the attached museum, which provides information about the people who constructed these edifices.

Paceville

Paceville (pronounced Patch-a-ville) is the suburb in Malta where the young people go for their dancin' and drinkin'.

If you haven't been there before, Paceville is effectively a long stone staircase rammed with drunk kids trying to make themselves heard, in variously accented English, over extremely loud euro-dance music.  If that sounds like something which would interest you, then get yourself down there my friend, and godspeed.  

Some of the Attractions on offer include:

- The renowned Qube Vodka Bar bucket (to avoid confusion: this is a bucket full of vodka)

- The Nordic Bar's tray of 15 tequilas for €9.95 (Bargain!)

- The Slingshot, which is not alcoholic, but is in fact a giant slingshot which propels humans up into the air very, very quickly

- About 3 or 4 'Gentleman's Clubs' in which you are unlikely to discover too many individuals answering to the description of 'gentleman'.

- ...along with some cinemas, a couple of casinos, some fast food joints, cheap & not-so-cheap hotels and various souvenir shops.


Look, we all like a party, and this is the best party-zone Malta has to offer.  There are lots of bars and restaurants around Paceville and not all of them are filled with horny teenagers; in fact some are quite civilized.  The St Rita steps are where it gets messy/fun (depending on your perspective), so you have been warned.  But just so long as you know what you're getting in for, go enjoy yourself!



(This is one of the Top 10 Things to Do in Malta)

Comino and the Blue Lagoon

No trip to Malta would be complete... et cetera and so on.  And it is true.  As you can see from the photo below, you really should put aside a day to take the ferry up to Comino.  Better yet, take a boat trip from Sliema ferries and save yourself a lengthy bus trip followed by the non-rapid ferry crossing.  Crystal clear waters and not too deep, good for snorkeling or you can go explore some of the caves and tunnels the sea has carved out of the rock in Cominetto (the tiny island on the other side of the lagoon).

In fact there's only one problem with this little piece of paradise, and that is the presence of those pesky humans.  During the summer, the place is chock full of people, as the second picture demonstrates.  I was there in August and it was far from a deserted island.  So when you arrive, you will need to find yourself a little unoccupied space up on the rocky hill above the water on which to lay your towel - ideally not in a throughway so people aren't trampling all over your stuff as they negotiate the cliffs.  You can get a burger or hot dog from one of the busy concession stands and settle in, meanwhile trying to figure out exactly you're going to get down from here and into the water without breaking your neck or

stepping on somebody's head.  

Festa of St Paul's Shipwreck - St Paul's and Valletta

an angel under wraps

Damascan conversion

the band tunes up

 Whatever your religious beliefs, you have got to admit that Saint Paul was a pretty incredible human being.  If he hadn't dedicated his life to spreading the word around the known world, and being remarkably successful at it too, then the name of the carpenter's son from Nazereth may have been lost in the mists of time.  Whilst on his travels, Paul's ship was wrecked off Malta, on the small island that bears his name today.  And it is this event that is celebrated on February 10th every year, the first Festa of the year in Malta.

steady..

The festa takes place in St Pauls and Valletta, as well as in Munxar on Gozo.  It's a public holiday in Malta, so many of the shops and businesses are closed to allow the population to celebrate.  This involves politely applauding the local brass band as it trundles along behind the heavy statue of St Paul, which is being carried by sturdy volunteers from the church. The applause tends to be a little more raucous later in the evening as the crowd has swollen and has also gotten through a few beers at this stage.

There are stalls selling traditional Maltese foods, people singing along with the band and plenty of very loud fireworks.  Definitely worth catching a festa when you're in Malta.

Marsaxlokk. Gone fishin'.

This is a popular stopping off point on many people's tour of Malta.  Marsaxlokk is a little fishing village in the south of the island, which looks great in photos because of all the colourful fishing boats ('luzzus') bobbing up and down on the waves.  Another reason to go to Marsaxlokk is the famous fish market which takes place every Sunday morning.  You can buy fish here that's so fresh it's practically still swimming.  However if you are staying in a hotel, you may begin to regret that impulse purchase of a lampuki that's been taking up space in the minibar for the past few days.  Fortunately, there is more than fish available to buy, and there's a market every day of the week which sells various touristy stuff.  If you're not at liberty to cook your own fish, there are plenty of good restaurants in Marsaxlokk that can do the job for you.  I can't recall the name of the place we went to (very nice it was too, so sorry about that), so you might want to check out tripadvisor's recommendations for advice on which restaurant to go for.

Hypogeum - Older than the Pyramids

inside the Hypogeum

The Hypogeum in Paola is one place that is definitely worth a visit, whether you've had enough of lying on the beach or you are trying to get in touch with your spiritual side.  The Hypogeum is a series of underground chambers connected by low ceilinged passages, which was carved out of the rock over 5,000 years ago, by a pre-historic civilisation about whom little is known.  And you don't have to be a history enthusiast to get something from a visit to the Hypogeum.  There is something very atmospheric about walking through the narrow passageways accompanied by drip-drip sounds which bounce off the rock walls.  The fact that groups are restricted in numbers means that you don't get that over-touristed feel and you can actually take in what you're looking at.  No photos allowed inside either, so you have to actually experience the place without the prism of your camera or phone getting in the way.  There's no point in me trying to describe it in too much detail though, it's one of those places you need to experience for yourself.

Gozo

The Azure Window at Dwejra

Gozo is probably a must-see if you are visiting Malta.  Not so much during the winter months, when a lot of the shops and restaurants close their shutters and there's a kind of empty feeling about the place, but you should definitely make it part of your itinerary any other time of year.

Of course there is a certain appeal to the place that doesn't exist when it's overrun by tourists, so take your pick.

The Gozitans are to the Maltese as Newfoundlanders are to Canadians, or Alaskans to Americans.  Regarded as having a certain quaint novelty value, glad you're part of the team, but different.  Gozo makes Malta seem like a cosmopolitan hub by comparison.  It has a charm of it's own though and if you are spending a week or more in Malta you are missing out if you don't  pay a visit to the red-headed cousin to the north.

Rocky Beaches - Sliema & St Julian's

Not sandy.

I have spent more time awkwardly arranged amongst the nooks and crannies of these rocky beaches than any others in Malta.  This is mainly due to their proximity and my laziness, but still qualifies me to speak on the subject with some authority.  The small rocky alcove near the Dubliner is a great spot for swimming, and a lot of the (older) locals come here on a regular basis during the long summer months.  Further along as you cross from St Julian's to Sliema there's a larger stone beach where it's easier to stretch out a bit and which doesn't get overcrowded.  Keep going and you come to the largest Sliema beach which stretches for quite a distance with plenty of room for lounging about, although swimming requires a bit more effort as you have to do some clambering in and out of the water and there's no specific roped off area for swimmers.

Your photos won't have that white sand backdrop to make the folks back home extra-jealous, but you won't come home with sand in every orifice and your tan will look just as good by the end of the week.

Top 10 Things to do in Malta

To remove subjectivity as much as is possible, and to save you the trouble, I researched ten different sources (see bottom of page) to get their Top Ten lists.  Then I did some simple maths and came up with my own "definitive", best of the best top ten list.  Here it is in reverse order, (more exciting that way):

10.  Go clubbing in Paceville until the early hours.

9.  Visit Marsaxlokk fishing village for markets, fresh fish and relaxed atmosphere.

8.  Get yourself to a village Festa, when the whole town parades around, fireworks go off, and a good time is had by all.  There are dozens of these over the summer months.

7.  Visit the Hypogeum, atmospheric underground chambers which were created thousands of years ago.

6.  Investigate the Ancient Temples like Hagar Qim and Mnajdra and the Tarxien Temples.

Valletta - Crucial Information.

The tiny capital city of Malta.  It is very very small.  Really. 

Interesting Facts about Valletta:

•  This is Europe's smallest capital city, and only about 7,000 people live here.
•  The chess olympics were held here in 1980.  I don't know who won.
•  Oliver Reed died here while filming 'Gladiator'.  He had a heart attack in a pub called 'The Pub', which now attracts more customers as a result.  Circle of life.
•  Valletta contains more monuments per square metre than any other city in the world.
•  Valletta is the capital of Malta, but Birkirkara is the biggest city.  Although 'city' is being generous to Birkirkara and rather insulting to actual cities.

St John's Co-Cathedral and 'The Antichrist of Painting'

St John's

Right up there among the most worthwhile buildings to visit in Malta, particularly impressive once you go inside. Among other things, it is home to what is generally regarded as one of the artist Caravaggios best paintings.  He spent a short time in Malta whilst on the run from the law after accidentally killing someone in a duel, and so a few of his paintings have ended up here as a result.  Man kills another man 400 years ago in a Roman backstreet, and beautiful paintings hang on Maltese church wall today.  That's life.

wow.

Have you ever seen the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris?  If you haven't, don't bother, it looks just like that image you have of it in your head.   And also you won't have to contend with 40 people taking terrible photos of it through a thick plexiglass screen, so they can show their unimpressed friends on facebook.  The 'Mona Lisa' may be the most famous painting in the world but it's certainly not the best.  It only acquired it's fame in the early 20th century by virtue of being stolen and so appeared in papers all over the world.  I don't even buy that stuff about 'capturing her enigmatic smile'.  I reckon that's something art critics came up with when everyone started asking them what the big deal about it was.

Mdina (and that's pronounced "Im-Deenah", if you're wondering)

Narrow streets

Almost six months after arriving in Malta, myself and Dany finally got our respective asses in gear and went to visit what I remember some guidebook or other describing as the 'jewel in the crown' of Malta.  Or something like that.  Anyway it is very well worth a visit and shame on me for not doing so earlier.  You get to Mdina from St Julian's on the 202 or 203 bus which takes what feels like a ridiculously convoluted route, but that's a complaint for another day.  Mdina is the old walled city which is now effectively part of the town of Rabat, and you can while away an hour or so wandering through it's tiny streets and checking out cathedrals and museums and suchlike.